Mouse Says "Sorry"

by Michael Dahl, Oriol Vidal (Illustrator)

Mouse is late for supper and must use his manners to get home.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Storytime

20 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2011

About the author

Michael Dahl is the author of over 200 books for children and young adults, including the acclaimed Finnegan Zwake mystery series and The Library of Doom. His works have earned Edgar and Anthony Award nominations and national design honors. As Editorial Director at Stone Arch Books, he champions engaging, award-winning stories that inspire young readers everywhere.

He also writes under aliases Chris Carey, Rick Thomas, and Mark Ziegler.

Reviews

[Mila Reads Alot ☕ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very adorable book, perfect for showing the very little ones on how to act and show manners to others.

[Alicia Evans · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really like the other Hello Genius books, but this one made me really upset. We see Mouse repeatedly making messes, destroying others' possessions, and just generally being harried as they sprint across the pages. Each time, Mouse says that they're sorry and the illustrations show that they're very apologetic, but Mouse keeps doing the same behavior. At the end of the book, we see that Mouse is acting this way because they're late for dinner, and Mouse's parent/caregiver confronts them about it. Mouse has a sad look on their face and apologizes, saying that "I got here as fast as I could." The cover shows Mouse crying and looking very upset.

Growing up in an abusive household, this is 100% anxiety for being late BECAUSE YOU KNOW THERE WILL BE BAD CONSEQUENCES, including various forms of abuse. This does not read as happy, or cute, or that Mouse is silly and just needs to slow down, or whatever. It could easily be problematic for the other people who have been or still are in those types of situations. Would not recommend.

For: readers looking for a book about saying sorry and being apologetic (though plan to have a conversation about proper apologies and behaviors).

Possible red flags: rudeness; destruction; implied terrifying discipline.

[Chrisanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a book about genuine apologies. And the potential back story "plot" is disturbing at worst and not something I'd want my kids to emulate at best.

[Lacy | literary_lacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had short sentences, that are easy for little ones to follow. My daughter kept asking me why the mouse was saying “sorry”, so it was a great opportunity for me to explain why the mouse was saying “sorry”, and why she should in certain situations.

This book is a great trenching tool to help kids learn about the word “sorry”. The illustrations were also, very colorful.

I enjoyed this short book, and recommend it for toddlers!

[Igor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice drawing. Few pages. Not so interesting.

[Orki De · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتاب مورد علاقه پسرم است اما من دوستش ندارم
چون موش کوچولوی شتابزده، با دستهای نشسته و کثیف سر میز مینشیند و غذا میخورد!

[Jonathan Ryal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mouse says sorry is a different type of children’s book that brings in a view not seen as much in literature, courtesy and manners. It teaches children to respect other people, their time and property. Each page brings about a different concern and consequence that Mouse has to deal with. There is lots of color, large pictures and it introduces children to different animals. The book starts with Mouse racing towards something unknown to the reader. Mouse first runs through a pile of mud and ends up splashing the mud all over some bystanders having to apologize. It further steps on a painting with the muddy feet, knocks over a squirrel’s nuts and has to apologize to all of them. Mouse ends up in the last page at the dinner table telling its mom sorry for being late but they had hurried. I highly recommend it as a simple read that you don’t get to see much.

[Wench · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm all for books to help teach good manners, and certainly this one provided plenty of examples of when an apology is appropriate. But we don't see anything besides a yelled "sorry!" as Mouse rushes by. There's no other consequence to Mouse's actions. So I'm not thrilled.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some children, and adults have a very hard time saying sorry. This is the perfect book to help you teach the importance of saying sorry. The one thing I wish this book had in it was Mouse saying sorry, and then helping to fix what he had done wrong. I think it's super important that we not only say sorry but we always try to fix what we have done wrong.

** Talking Points: who seems to own their actions the most in your family and say sorry when they need to say sorry? Growing up did your parents apologize to you when they did something wrong? Did they teach you to apologize and set things right? How do you feel when someone apologizes to you? Do you think it's a sign of strength or weakness if someone apologizes? Is it ease or hard for you to apologize to others?

** Essential Oil Pairing Tips: The perfect oil for helping to forgive others when someone has said sorry is doTERRA's Forgive essential oil blend. Check out the tests done on it. It is amazing about helping people get rid of negative feelings and supports people being more open to positive feelings.

[Morgan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m a big fan of Bear Says Thank You, so I expected to like Mouse Says Sorry, but I was very disappointed.

Bear Says Thank You has a beginning, middle and end, and two strong characters. Mouse Says Sorry is just one note repeated over and over again. Each page shows Mouse apologizing while running through somewhere, making a mess.

There isn’t any narration to describe what is happening, so the illustrations have to do a lot of heavy lifting. I’m not complaining about Oriol Vidal’s illustrations, which were perfectly competent. In Bear Says Thank you, Vidal’s illustrations provided a lovely complement to the text. The artwork just doesn’t have quite enough depth to do all of the storytelling.

Mouse doesn’t learn a lesson, and the book doesn’t provide a positive message. I would like a book about apologizing to show the main character making different mistakes and learning from them, while giving heartfelt sorrys. Instead, we just see Mouse make the same mistake over and over again, and offer a somewhat hollow and perfunctory sorry while hurrying away without giving anyone time to respond. After Mouse gets scolded for being late to dinner, and apologizes, the book ends abruptly. It would have been nice to see the parent forgive Mouse, and show some love and compassion. Instead, it’s just left up to the reader’s imagination what happens after Mouses gets scolded and tearfully says “sorry”.

[Lauren Drake · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun short picture book about a mouse who is trying to make it home on time. He makes a mess as he runs home - knocking into people, getting covered in mud etc however he ensures that he says sorry after each thing that happens. This would be good to use with younger children so that they are able to identify situations in which they might need to say sorry. Like Dahls other books, this also teachers good manners.

[Jayanth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good 👍

I would recommend it for toddlers as it has easy building block words which can help the child with spelling , vocabulary and it helps extended their imagination too.😊🙂😀

[Adriana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rating: ⭐ (1/5)
A frantic mouse says "sorry".

Highlights: Repetitive which is good for recall. Illustrations are creative.

Lowlights: The meaning of 'sorry' isn't actually explained and the mouse's excuse for being in a hurry is that he is late for dinner.

[Katie Dickey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mouse!

As an independent read for a 6 year old it was confusing until the end why mouse was rushing around, but we loved the story and expressions of mouse.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this series. I wanted all of the books red over and over again. I loved the big, bright illustrations. This booked helped me while I was learning the sign language for sorry.

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. It was a bit too repetitive and I'm not sure what the lesson was supposed to be.

[Prince · Rating 5 out of 5]

I💕this book

[Daniella Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story about needing to slow down as when we are in a rush things go wrong

[Naresh Mani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent illustrations

Great book for bedtime reading. Great addition to Prime reading library.
My daughter loves this book as I read it to her. Thanks

[Sandy]

A book in a set that teaches early manners and courtesies in a cute way. We read these all one more time before gifting them to the new baby next door.

[Joel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series makes no sense

[Robin Obara · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is good to apologize but lacked situational awareness as Mouse continues to rush and bump into others.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very nice way to introduce manners, and have children understand their impact on others.

[TJE · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent social story for 18 mos and up. Almost grown out of by 2.5 years.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think this book does a good job of teaching kids when to say "sorry" and why they should say it.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a great book about manners OR apologizing.

[Sara ♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is super cute and it's easy for my daughter to tell what's going on and WHY the little mouse is saying "Sorry!" When I read it, I elaborate what the mouse is saying... ("Sorry ducky!" or "Sorry turtle!") and explain a little better what happened ("Uh oh! Ducky was painting a picture and the mouse got mud on it!"). But the dialogue in the book is equivalent to the other in the series, so I won't count that against the book. :) Really cute!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

The concept of the book is a good one (that we should apologize when we hurt/bother others) though I do think it could be better. However, my son giggles the whole time we read it so I guess he loves it!

[Lil Old Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter and I love this series of Hello Genius books. Really cute pictures and simple text makes this a good read for infants. My 1 year old was entertained by the colors and pictures. I love that each story is entertaining, yet also teaches a lesson (in this case, manners and saying sorry).

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't really care for the story (why didn't Mouse wipe his feet instead of ruining all of his friends things?), but damn if I'm not a big sucker for a big-eyed cartoon mouse with a tear.